The war on terror has spread to the classroom as more and more homeland security jobs are created. One way students are learning about anti-terrorism is by studying to attain a homeland security certification. These classes cover many ways to identify terrorism, prevent terrorism and handle disaster situations. Most certificates are attained through distance learning, and many come in different levels of expertise. One of these certificates can be a gateway into a long career of protecting innocent citizens from terrorist threats.

The most common way to attain a homeland security certification is to go through online homeland security training. This training often is offered through traditional universities and requires you to be enrolled at that school. Many times, you will have to supply test scores, grades and other materials to be accepted. There also are many online sources that specialize in providing certification, and these sources of certification have much less stringent enrollment requirements.

In order to get your homeland security certification, you will have to learn a variety of subjects focused on national security. By reading materials provided by the instructor and engaging in class discussions, you will become a master on the subject of terrorism. These subjects cover identifying, preventing and recovering from terrorist attacks.

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You must learn about current trends in domestic and international terrorism in order to get an overall understanding of the topic. You also must learn about various strategies for counter-terrorism in order to prevent attacks on innocent civilians. You also must learn how to identify threats before they happen and be able to assess a particular threat level. Homeland security certification training also consists of proper planning on how to respond to terrorist attacks and how to recover from their effects.

Many educational institutions offer various levels of homeland security certification. One prominent source, for example, offers five increasingly detailed levels of certification, each with a sharper focus and more insight than the previous level. Low levels of certification focus on things such as terminology and a broad overview of anti-terrorism, and higher levels of certification focus on specific threats, such as the different types of chemical weapons used by terrorists.

In many cases, the coursework taken for this certification counts toward a college degree. Many students use these credit hours to pursue a criminal justice degree. With a criminal justice degree and a homeland security certification, you can find work in your government's anti-terrorism program as an air marshal, a travel security agent or a similar position.

Discuss this Article

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Does the Department of Homeland Security also have courses and certification program in homeland security and anti-terrorism? Or do only academic institutions provide them?

If I decide to get a homeland security certification, I would like to get it from an institution and program that has close connections with the Department of Homeland Security. I want to meet people who work in this department and hear about their experiences and maybe even take classes and seminars with them.

I really hope that such a program is available because I want to work for the Department of Homeland Security in the future and I would really benefit from interacting with the Department during the certification program.

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